Wednesday, August 5, 2015

August 6, 1945

Isao Harimoto is the only Hibakusha to ever play in NPB. He was five years old when the bomb was dropped. His story is here.

2000 BBM 20th Century Best 9 #340

"When the bomb exploded, I was at a row house in Danbara-shinmachi, about 2.3 kilometers from the hypocenter. There was a flash and an enormous roar. The next thing I knew my mother was shielding me and my sister, three years older, with her body, though her back was covered in blood due to flying shards of glass. We were urged to run, in Korean, and we fled to a vineyard. Even now, 65 years after the bombing, I can still vividly recall the people groaning and the strange stench. There were dozens of people in the vineyard. When I tried to go see people who were screaming for water and jumping into a canal nearby, my mother stopped me."

2004 BBM Giants 70th Anniversary #049

"My eldest sister had been mobilized at a work site at Hijiyama Hill or thereabouts. My older brother and others went to look for her and they carried her back on a stretcher. She was suffering terrible burns, on her face, too. I was shocked to see a human being, the sister I so admired, transformed into such a state. I remember bringing charred grapes to her mouth. I have no idea how many days passed after that, but one day I heard my mother crying and I knew my sister was dead."